The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie wed his fiancee, Indian actress Padma Lakshmi, in a ceremony in Manhattan in the US on Saturday.

Rushdie, 56, married the former model at a Hindu ceremony witnessed by some of his closest friends.

The author went into hiding in the 1980s after Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa for "insulting Islam" in The Satanic Verses.

The marriage is Rushdie's fourth and Lakshmi's first.

The author's agent confirmed to BBC News Online the marriage had taken place in Manhattan, but declined to give any further details.

Traditional customs

The pair had announced their engagement in February.

Rushdie wore a long black sherwani, a kind of frock coat, while Lakshmi wore a purple bridal outfit, according to reports.

Rushdie slipped a shoe onto his wife's foot, a traditional custom. He also arrived at the ceremony in the company of a child - his son Milan - a ritual which denoted fertility, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

The paper said guests included media couple Harold Evans and Tina Brown - whose party the pair met at - as well as David Bowie's wife Iman, columnist Christopher Hitchens and writer Kathy Lette.